Plaza Fiesta has evolved into Atlanta's version of a Mexican marketplace — a mall with water fountains, tile floors, cowboy boots and party dresses.

On Sunday, 35,000 people were expected to show up for a mariachi festival to celebrate the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo, which is today.

Sara Hopkins/Special (ENLARGE)

Bellisima Quinceanera, a store in the Plaza Fiesta mall, sells brightly colored Quinceanera dresses for young women to wear when they are introduced to society at age 15.

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Plaza Fiesta, which is on Buford Highway north of Clairmont Road, has come a long way since 1999, when developers bought it for $10 million with the idea of tearing it down to build a Wal-Mart or a Home Depot.

Instead, they pursued the concept of a Latino lifestyle center. It was a risky proposition, but it turned into a profitable venture that could serve as a blueprint for shopping centers nationwide.

Partners Doug McMurrain and Vincent Riggio sold Plaza Fiesta in 2006 to a firm representing a California teacher's pension fund for $57 million. Their manager and marketer, Arturo Adonay also walked away from the deal with seven figures.

The saga of Plaza Fiesta is one of hard work, risk, good location, police presence, willing financiers and good marketing.

In its previous life as the Oriental Mall, the shopping center was short on tenants, and gang bangers and drug dealers felt at home. The mall wasn't focused on the largest demographic group in the area, which was Hispanics.

McMurrain and Riggio decided to spend about $12 million to renovate the 1970s-era building, fixing the roof and the air conditioning. They built faux façades of Mexican colonial buildings and tile floors inside. They hired off-duty police officers to patrol the mall. They also brought in Mexican entertainment and marketed the space to nearby Mexican immigrants, many of whom live within walking distance in older apartment buildings lining Buford Highway.

McMurrain says one of the most satisfying things about Plaza Fiesta is that entrepreneurs have the chance to open a stall without a huge startup cost.

He cites the example of the fruit-stand man who started with one pushcart selling fresh fruit topped with spicy chili and now has 12 stalls.

"He sends his kid to Pace Academy now," McMurrain said.

"It's giving people the chance to change their lives and their children's lives. That's what's fun about the Plaza Fiesta concept," he said. "You don't get that kind of story when you do a Wal-Mart."

In the early days, it wasn't clear the idea would fly.

Financing was a challenge. "None of the big Atlanta banks — they wouldn't really get out of their car to look at it," McMurrain said.

The idea of a "mercado" as a place to shop and socialize was a foreign idea to many bankers, McMurrain said.

"People have been shopping this way for thousands of years. In America we invented the mall, but our malls don't have hearts in them. It's not a place where you would take your family to hang out and socialize," he said.

That's where Adonay, who has experience working in public relations, came in.

Adonay was good at marketing. He brought in Mexican acts and later became like the mayor of Plaza Fiesta, Riggio said. Adonay, a recent Mexican immigrant, worked with the vendors to enforce the rules. Stalls had to sell new merchandise, and if they were a week late on the rent, they were out, Riggio said.

Now, McMurrain wants to take the Plaza Fiesta concept to the mainstream shopping center business. He and Adonay have built Plaza Fiesta Carolinas in Charlotte.

It's a taller, more airy space with colorful Mexican architectural facades three stories high.

"I want to make it so anybody and everybody wants to go to Plaza Fiesta," McMurrain said.